PARASHAT LEKH L'KHA(For yourself, go)

TORAH

B'reshit Chapter 16
1 Now Sarai Avram's wife bore him no children; and she had a handmaid, a Mitzrit, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Avram, "Behold now, יהוה has restrained me from bearing; go in, I pray, unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall be built up through her." And Avram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 3 And Sarai Avram's wife took Hagar the Mitzrit, her handmaid, after Avram had dwelt ten years in the land of Kena'an, and gave her to Avram her husband to be his wife. 4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 5 And Sarai said unto Avram, "My wrong be upon you: I gave my handmaid into your bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: יהוה judge between me and you." 6 But Avram said unto Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your hand; do to her that which is good in your eyes." And Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face. 7 And the Malakh יהוה found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, from where did you come, and where do you go?" And she said, "I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai." 9 And the Malakh יהוה said unto her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands." 10 And the Malakh יהוה said unto her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude." 11 And the Malakh יהוה said unto her, "Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishma'el, because יהוה has heard your affliction. 12 And he shall be a wild donkey of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren." 13 And she called the Name of יהוה that spoke unto her, "You are El Ro'i"; for she said, "Have I even here seen Him that sees Me?" 14 Therefore the well was called "Be'er-lakhai-ro'i"; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bared. 15 And Hagar bore Avram a son; and Avram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishma'el. 16 And Avram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishma'el to Avram.

B'reshit Chapter 17
1 And when Avram was ninety-nine years old, יהוה appeared to Avram, and said unto him, "I am El Shadai; walk before Me, and be wholehearted. 2 And I will make My Brit between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." 3 And Avram fell on his face; and Elohim talked with him, saying, 4 "As for Me, behold, My Brit is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Neither shall your name any more be called Avram, but your name shall be Avraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made you. 6 And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. 7 And I will establish My Brit between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting Brit, to be Elohim unto you and to your seed after you. 8 And I will give unto you, and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Kena'an, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their Elohim." 9 And Elohim said unto Avraham, "And as for you, you shall keep My Brit, you, and your seed after you throughout their generations. 10 This is My Brit, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a sign of a Brit between Me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of your seed. 13 He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your money, must needs be circumcised; and My Brit shall be in your flesh for an everlasting Brit. 14 And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My Brit." 15 And Elohim said unto Avraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son of her; yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her." 17 Then Avraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" 18 And Avraham said unto Elohim, "Oh that Ishma'el might live before You!" 19 And Elohim said, "Nay, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son; and you shall call his name Yitz'khak; and I will establish My Brit with him for an everlasting Brit for his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishma'el, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But My Brit will I establish with Yitz'khak, whom Sarah shall bear unto you at this Mo'ed in the next year." 22 And He left off talking with him, and Elohim went up from Avraham. 23 And Avraham took Ishma'el his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Avraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as Elohim had said unto him. 24 And Avraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishma'el his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 In the selfsame day was Avraham circumcised, and Ishma'el his son. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

HAFTARAH

Yesha-Yahu Chapter 40
27 Why do you say, O Ya'akov, and speak, O Yisra'el, 'My way is hid from יהוה , and my right is passed over from my Elohim'? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard that the everlasting Elohim, יהוה , the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? His discernment is past searching out. 29 He gives power to the faint; and to him that has no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; 31 but they that wait for יהוה shall renew their strength; they shall soar in the air as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint."

Yesha-Yahu Chapter 41
1 "Keep silence before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength; let them draw near, then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment. 2 Who has raised up one from the east, at whose steps victory attends? He gives nations before him, and makes him rule over kings; his sword makes them as the dust, his bow as the driven stubble. 3 He pursues them, and passes on safely; the way with his feet he treads not. 4 Who has wrought and done it? He that called the generations from the beginning. I, יהוה , who am the first, and with the latter ones, I am He. 5 The isles saw, and feared; the ends of the earth trembled; they drew near, and came. 6 They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, 'Be of good courage'. 7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smites the anvil, saying of the soldering, 'It is good'; and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. 8 But you, Yisra'el, My servant, Ya'akov whom I have chosen, the seed of Avraham My friend; 9 you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called you from the uttermost parts thereof, and said unto you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away'; 10 fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your Elohim; I strengthen you, yes, I help you; yes, I uphold you with My victorious right hand. 11 Behold, all they that were incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded; they that strove with you shall be as nothing, and shall perish. 12 You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contended with you; they that warred against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13 For I, יהוה , your Elohim, hold your right hand, who says unto you, 'Fear not, I am your help'. 14 Fear not, you worm Ya'akov, and you men of Yisra'el; I am your help, says יהוה , and your Redeemer, the Kadosh One of Yisra'el. 15 Behold, I make you a new threshing-sledge having sharp teeth; you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff. 16 You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and you shall rejoice in יהוה , you shall glory in the Kadosh One of Yisra'el.

Romim Chapter 3
19 Now we know that whatever the Torah says, it is said to those who are under the Torah, so that every mouth may be shut, and all the world may become guilty before Elohim. 20 For by the deeds of the Torah no flesh shall be justified before His presence; for by means of the Torah, sin is known. 21 But now the tzedaka of Elohim separate from Torah is manifested, and the very Torah and Nevi'im testify to it; 22 for the tzedaka of Elohim is by the Emunah of Yeshua HaMashi'akh, to everyone, even to every man who trusts in Him, for there is no discrimination. 23 For all have sinned and are missing the K’vod of Elohim; 24 for they are freely given tzedaka by the compassion of Elohim through the redemption which is in Yeshua HaMashi'akh, 25 whom Elohim has foreordained to be a propitiation through trust in His blood for the remission of our sins that are past; 26 by the opportunity which Elohim has given us through His forbearance, for the manifestation of His tzedaka at the present time, that He might be declared righteous; and for the justification of tzedaka to him who is in HaEmunah of Adoneinu Yeshua HaMashi'akh. 27 Where is boasting then? It is worthless. By what Torah? Of works? No; but by the Torah of trust. 28 Therefore we conclude that it is by Emunah a man is justified and not by the works of the Torah. 29 Why? Is Elohim the Elohim of the Y’hudim only? Is He not also Elohim of the Goyim? Yes, He is Elohim of the Goyim also; 30 for there is one Elohim, who justifies the circumcision by Emunah, and the uncircumcision by the same Emunah. 31 What, then? Do we nullify the Torah through Emunah? What profanity! On the contrary, we uphold the Torah!

Romim Chapter 4
1 What then shall we say concerning Avraham, the first of our fathers, who lived according to the flesh before Elohim called him? 2 For if Avraham was justified by works, he had reason to be proud; but not before Elohim. 3 For what did the scriptures say? “Avraham firmly trusted in Elohim, and it was counted to him for tzedaka.” 4 But to him who works, wages are not considered as a result of compassion, but as that which is due to him. 5 And to him who works not, but only trusts in him who justifies sinners, his trust is counted for tzedaka. 6 Just as David also said about the blessedness of the man whom Elohim declared righteous without works, 7 saying, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are wiped away. 8 Blessed is the man whose sins Elohim will not hold against him.”
9 Now, therefore, is this blessedness on account of circumcision or on account of uncircumcision? For we say that Avraham’s trust was accounted to him for tzedaka. 10 How then was it given to him? By means of circumcision or in uncircumcision? It was not given in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11 For he received circumcision as a sign and a seal of the tzedaka of his trust while he was uncircumcised, that he might become the father of all those who trust, though they are not circumcised, that tzedaka might be reckoned also to them, 12 so that the father of circumcision is not only to those who are of circumcision, but also to those who walk in the steps of HaEmunah of our father Avraham while he was yet uncircumcised. 13 For the promise to Avraham and his posterity that he should inherit the world was not made through the Torah, but through the tzedaka of his trust. 14 For if they had become heirs by means of the Torah, then Emunah would have been empty, and the promise made of no effect. 15 For the Torah causes provocation; for where there is no instruction, there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is by trust that we will be justified by compassion, so that the promise might be sure to all his posterity, not only to him who is of the Torah, but also to him who is of HaEmunah of Avraham, who is the father of us all.
17 As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations,” in the presence of the Elohim in whom you have trusted, who quickens the dead, and who invites those who are not yet in being, as though they were present. 18 For he who was hopeless trusted in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; as it is written, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 His absolute trust never weakened, even when he examined his old body when he was a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not doubt the promise of Elohim, as one who lacks trust; but his Emunah strengthened him, and he gave glory to Elohim. 21 He felt assured that what Elohim had promised him, Elohim was able to fulfill. 22 Therefore his trust was reckoned to him for tzedaka.
23 That his trust was reckoned for tzedaka was not written for his sake alone, 24 but for us also; for He will number us also, who trust in Him who raised Adoneinu Yeshua HaMashi'akh from the dead, 25 who was delivered up for our offenses, and arose, that He might justify us.

Romim Chapter 5
1 Therefore, being justified by trust, let us have shalom with Elohim through Adoneinu Yeshua HaMashi'akh; 2 through Him we have been brought by absolute trust into this compassion wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of Elohim. 3 And not only so, but we also glory in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation perfects patience in us; 4 and patience, experience; and experience, hope; 5 and hope causes no one to be ashamed; because the love of Elohim is poured into our hearts by The Ru'akh HaKodesh which is given to us.
6 But Mashi'akh, at this time, because of our weaknesses, died for the sake of the wicked.